Mobile Cuisine comes in many shapes, sizes and flavors.  The fare served varies greatly, and even the types of locations it can be found at are different in each region of the country. The college and professional football seasons have begun, which in turn brings us the fascinating world of the tailgate. Fans of these sporting events have long been involved in bringing mobile cuisine to the parking lots near the stadium their home team is playing. Many of these “fans” take their support as far as traveling hundreds of miles to watch their team on the rival team’s home turf. Outside of packing their multi-colored foam fingers, team flags and jerseys, many of them bring complete traveling kitchens.

Because we have been flooded by reader requests who want to see us cover this long time American tradition, we at Mobile Cuisine Magazine have listened and hope to succeed in bringing our readers, articles on the subjects related to mobile food that they want to read. This week we will start with the basics of tailgating, and provide some common sense ideas and items that every want to be tailgater may want in their arsenal.

Dress in your team’s colors, and fly a flag – Show your support in and out of the stadium, you, in part with the rest of the fans, are the 12^th man on the field. Show it off proudly!

Timing, timing, timing – Your food should be ready approximately an hour to two hours before kickoff. This will allow you plenty of time to eat and clean up before you and your guests need to be inside the stadium to root for your team.

Antacid – In many cases with tailgating, we’re talking about brats, hotdogs and burgers. Don’t let a little indigestion ruin the rest of your day.

Toilet paper – This item seems to be left of many preplanning lists. Nothing is worse than finding the one port-a-potty that is out of TP when you really need it.

Comfortable shoes – Once you get into the stadium, you’ll be sitting, but don’t forget, while you are outside, you’ll be standing and walking around the parking lot.

Pack your rubbers – With football, there is always a chance for wet weather. Don’t be the tailgater stuck in the vehicle when you could be out in the elements cooking.

Jumper cables – Many tailgaters love to stay in the parking lot after games to celebrate. Don’t be the one who is forced to.

Don’t forget to leave your area clean – The worst way to show support for your team and the employees of the stadium, is to leave it a shambles.

This is just a short list of ideas and items tailgaters can use. If you are a common tailgater and would like to share your experience, please do in the comments section below. In future features, we will present some of the more outlandish tailgaters across the United States as well as the gourmet food that they prepare.

Keep the feedback coming, we love hearing from you.